Team Modena and Enge won GT1
Spyker
James Watt Automotive
Michelin
Tomas Enge
Harold Primat
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Spyker
This morning at twenty minutes past eleven the field of almost 50 cars crossed the starting line for the Le Mans Series ‘Autosport 1000 km of Silverstone'. The last race for SNORAS Spyker Squadron this season was one of mixed results; the #94 Speedy Racing Team car finished 8th after being hit by another car in the early stages of the race. The #85 Spyker Squadron car finished 4th.
Although the morning started in foggy and cold conditions, the sun appeared an hour before the start. The weather conditions remained good throughout the race. Two Spyker's appeared at the start this morning; the #85 SNORAS Spyker Squadron car was driven by regulars Alexei Vasiliev and Ralf Kelleners. As Peter Dumbreck had other obligations in Japan, the drivers in the #85 were joined by Dutchman Tom Coronel, who last drove a Spyker in the 2006 Donington round. The #94 Speedy Racing Team car was again driven by Benjamin Leuenberger and Andrea Chiesa.
The race had a spectacular opening - in the first corner the #1 Audi and the #7 Peugeot collided - but it was also the first proof of the many accidents to follow in the later stages of the race. Fortunately the rest of the field had a clear start and the #85 car that qualified 6th could maintain its position.
Only 25 minutes in the race Andrea Chiesa reported over the radio that his #94 Spyker was hit by another car. Although his left rear suspension was damaged he was able to return to the pit box. The damaged car was pushed into the box -- allowing more mechanics to work on the car -- but it took the crew 16 minutes to replace the damaged suspension before it could rejoin the field.
After just over an hour in the race the other car was also hit by another car. fortunately it was not damaged and continued to slowly move forward in the competitive GT2 field. The first safety car came out after an hour and twenty minutes of racing after one of the leading Peugeot LMP's hit a slower GT car in the side.
Both Spyker's returned to the pit lane to make a quick stop while the safety car was still out. After twenty minutes both cars involved in the accident were removed from the track and green light was given to race again. The #85 car, with Tom still behind the wheel, was now running in a 5th position.
At a quarter to two o'clock the safety car went out again and Tom returned the car in P4 to hand it over to Russian Alexei Vasiliev. Alexei rejoined in fifth place and was able to reclaim P4 before handing over to Ralf Kelleners after about an hour. Ralf pushed hard to close the gap with the Ferrari running in third place. He reduced the gap to just over 20 seconds when both cars returned to the pit lane for new tires, fuel and a driver change. The Spyker pit stop was very quick and, when both cars returned to the track, the gap was limited to just 5.2 seconds. Although both Ralf and Tom improved their quickest times in the final hours of the race, it was impossible to close the gap further and the #85 SNORAS Spyker Squadron car finished in a fourth place.
Ralf Kelleners: "Everything went well today. We did not have the best setup of the year but still we had a strong car and in the race we were lucky and smart enough to stay out of trouble. It was great to fight the Ferrari's and it shows the progress we are making".
In the final stages of the race, the #94 was again hit by another car. The mechanics quickly fixed the damage and the car could rejoin. The Speedy Racing Team car finished 8th, the best place possible after having lost a lot of valuable time in the box.
Benjamin Leuenberger: "I tried my best but it was quite difficult today. We have been hit twice by another car today. When I got in the car the left mirror was missing due to our earlier contact. The steer was a also bit off due to the accident and the car was somewhat understeering. In the end I was hit by an LMP which pushed me to the left causing me to hit a Ferrari. There were a lot of accidents today and the ACO should be careful letting drivers join the Series with limited experience".
Peter van Erp: managing director Spyker Squadron: "The lap times of the Speedy Racing Team car were good and similar to the cars running for position 4 to 6. The Spyker Squadron car had a clean race and even had a fight for the 3rd place. I am happy with today's results and it gives us good hope for next season. The drivers did a great job and I also want to compliment the team: our pit stops are still among the quickest of the field! And finally I would like to thank all our sponsors and partners for their encouragement and support this season. From now till the beginning of next season we are planning to test and further improve the car".
Victor Muller CEO Spyker Cars: "We are very pleased with today's result although it is a pity we missed the podium just with the #85 car. This season should be seen as a general rehearsal for next year having recovered from 2007 in which we simply did not have the funds to develop our cars further. That has all changed now and we are anxious looking forward to the 2009 season after having executed an intense winter development program. We will not rest until we win".
James Watt Automotive
JWA Seventh with Le Mans Series Aston Martin GT2 Debut
Silverstone, England -- James Watt Automotive (JWA) had a simple goal for the debut of its #93 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 in the season finale of the 2008 Le Mans Series, Sunday's 'Autosport 1000km of Silverstone' -- to finish the race! The Staffordshire-based team duly declared 'mission accomplished' as they claimed the chequered flag seventh in the GT2 class with two championship points a just reward for a solid maiden effort.
The stunning 4.5-litre, V8-powered Aston Martin Vantage GT2 made its European competition debut at Silverstone in the hands of JWA's driver trio of Tim Sugden (UK), Alan van der Merwe (SA) and Michael Outzen (DK). Van der Merwe started from 13th in class following a frustrating qualifying session the day before, the team still getting to grips with the car having had just one day of testing prior to the weekend's six-hour endurance race.
The former British F3 Champion pitted after 45-minutes with Michael Outzen next up behind the wheel. The Danish touring car regular enjoyed a trouble-free stint despite the first of the race's two full course cautions on his shift. He climbed into the top-ten with 39 laps recorded and was sitting ninth at the two-hour mark when he pitted for Tim Sugden to start what would be a double-stint.
Sugden was back in the pits just a lap later though with the team losing precious time and a potential fifth place finish as a flooring mount required repairing. Racing in front of an enthusiastic, and sizeable home crowd, the Brit held ninth in GT2 at the three hour mark and twenty minutes later climbed to eighth with 90 laps on the board.
Alan van der Merwe relieved Sugden for his second stint as the four hour mark approached. An event-free period saw the South African up to seventh by lap 123 before he returned to the pits for Michael Outzen to complete the run to the chequered. While the final laps of the race were interrupted briefly with the final safety car period, for crash debris, Outzen kept the JWA entry on-track for a debut finish, the Dane clocking 150 laps around Silverstone's Grand Prix circuit with five hours and twenty five minutes logged.
Nine laps later and JWA celebrated a points paying GT2 debut for the One York and TW Steel partnered #93 Aston Martin Vantage GT2, Outzen claiming the chequered in seventh. Britain's Allan McNish claimed the overall victory and LMP1 honours for Audi, alongside team-mate Rinaldo Capello, while the GT2 class was won by Virgo Motorsport's Robert Bell and Jamie Melo in a Ferrari F430 GT.
"Well we have to be pleased with a finish for the Aston," stated James Watt, JWA Team Principal. "It's what we set out to get and to claim two championship points against some of the best sports car team's in the world is pretty cool. Naturally we're a bit disappointed not to finish slightly higher up but I have to be pleased with what we accomplished.
"We lost around eight and a half minutes in the pits which equates to close to four laps fixing the mounts on the rear of the front floor shortly after Tim jumped in. Had we completed those laps we'd have likely ended up with a fifth place finish which would obviously have been a fantastic result so I'm a little disappointed we had that issue. Overall we've got a great baseline from this event and we can use it as a springboard for 2009."
Alan van der Merwe (28) commented; "Our objective was simply to finish with the new car so in that respect it's a case of mission accomplished. That said, we're competitive people and we had secret expectations of the car in terms of its pace so it was slightly disappointing we couldn't have had a better qualifying run yesterday. We went quicker in today's race obviously but the top-five we had hoped for didn't quite happen after the extended stay in the pits. The fact is that this car just needs some mileage and we got some on the board today. There's no doubt the Aston Martin's a great package and should be competitive next season."
"I really enjoyed my run," stated Tim Sugden (44). "I think the car performed as well as we expected it to given the limit track time we had heading into Silverstone. My best lap time, a 1m53.8s, was actually pretty respectable compared to the established GT2 cars. We finished the race which was the main thing. In a race as long as this, there's a ton of things that can go wrong but didn't. The team did a great job. Our floor issue was a silly little problem but it cost us some position. Overall though I think everyone should be pleased with how things turned out today given the circumstances."
Michael Outzen (26) enjoyed his first full taste of Le Mans Series competition; "It was a good experience getting to know the car and seeing how it performed over the course of a whole race. We have to look at all the positives from this run which includes getting to the finish and building up some data on the car as well. It gives the team information to work with which didn't exist prior to the weekend. There's no doubt this car has a lot of potential in GT2. I had a great time, I really like these long endurance races. The crowd here today was great and Silverstone's always fun to race on. I hope I get to come back again!"
Michelin
Today at Silverstone, Great Britain, the No.2 Audi R10 -Michelin driven by Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller crossed the line in first place, for the first time this season. Their victory brought Michelin its fifth consecutive LMP1 Le Mans Series title. Michelin continued its title-winning ways in LMP2 with a win for the Van Merksteijn team (Jos Verstappen/Peter Van Merksteijn) and in GT1 with Team Luc Alphand Aventures (Patrice Goueslard/Guillaume Moreau).
Once again, Michelin has helped its partners reach the highest steps of the podium in the Le Mans Series. After scoring an 11th consecutive win at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, Michelin repeated the achievement in the Le Mans Series. Since the championship began in 2004, Michelin has won every title in the LMP1, LMP2 and GT1 categories.
Matthieu Bonardel, manager of 4-wheel competition, Michelin
"It's been a drama -packed season, right up to the final race. I want to congratulate Audi-Sport on their Le Mans Series title, as well as Van Merksteijn in LMP2 and Luc Alphand Aventures in GT1. Congratulations also to Peugeot, who won four races out of five.
"We did an accomplished job throughout the year with all our privateer and manufacturer partners, and these results are a fantastic reward for our team and the Michelin Group.
"Winning is one objective, and the other is to learn. The Le Mans Series comprises a range of circuits, weather conditions and vehicles that allow us to develop our tyres throughout the season for major endurance races such as the Le Mans 24 Hours or the 12 Hours of Sebring, both of which Michelin once again won in 2008."
Frederic Henry -Biabaud - Michelin Motorsport Director
"Michelin has once again demonstrated its remarkable capacity for achievement with the success of our products. Our motorsport programme is important and strategic, and endurance racing is a perfect fit for our values: performance, consistency of performance and durability. The next set of regulations will strengthen the endurance element of the equation, and the contribution our tyres make to it. It only goes to reinforce the relevance of our involvement in this championship. Today's result demonstrates the extent to which, through partnerships with major manufacturers such as Peugeot and Audi, or indeed with privateer teams, Michelin has developed cutting-edge solutions and provided its partners with the best of its research and development. For our customers, this technology represents a promise of performance."
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich - Head of Audi Motorsport
"The season finished with a win and a title. It's the best scenario we could have hoped for. The team prepared itself perfectly, we performed strongly and everything went impeccably well. We won the Le Mans 24 Hours with Michelin and today, at the final race, we were also counting on their support to win the title. We managed it thanks to the excellent collaboration between Audi-Sport and Michelin - and we're absolutely delighted!"
Tomas Enge
Enge won at Silverstone and is runner-up of the GT1
Tomas Enge won his third race of the Le Mans Series season today at Silverstone but even this step was not enough to get the title. The numbers say that together with Spaniard Antonio Garcia and Team Modena they are the runner-up of the GT1 class. The team was anyway delighted to win on the home turf. Enge started the race from the second place but soon moved to the lead with an Aston Martin DBR9 and they kept it till the checquered flag.
Tomas Enge: "It was again a great race. I started second but got by Peter Kox after lap 8 and built a gap. Our Aston Martin DBR9 was running well and we had a gap of 30 seconds after the first stint. We did not have any major issue, so we built a gap of one lap. We used well also yellow phases. As we had said before the start our aim was to win and then wait for result of our biggest competitors. They scored points so we did not get the title. However, I had a very nice yaer in the Le Mans Series. It was nice to work with Antonio, I would be happy to race again with him in the future. Three wins out of five races are pleasant, especially today's one. Out team Modena is based in Silverstone and it is always great to win at home."
Harold Primat
A hard-charging drive from Harold Primat and co-driver Christophe Tinseau earned the Pescarolo Sport drivers a sixth place class finish after they stormed through the field in the Autosport 1000kms at Silverstone.
While the result wasn't enough to win the unofficial 'petrol class' in the overall standings, it represented another fine drive from the Geneva-based Primat and his French colleague and meant another points scoring finish. It also capped a good season for the #17 Pescarolo Sport duo, which has seen an overall podium at Monza and a petrol-class victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Meanwhile, the pair have helped Pescarolo to a comfortable third place in the manufacturers' championship behind works giants Audi and Peugeot.
Changeable weather conditions on Friday and Saturday meant a struggle to find an optimum set-up for qualifying and left the pair's Pescarolo 01-Judd 19th overall on the starting grid at the 'Home of British Motorsport'.
A strong opening stint from Primat, which saw him pick up several places in the opening laps and stay within half a second of the Creation AIM ahead, moved the #17 car up the order and Tinseau continued his progress after taking the wheel.
The pair continued to drive quick, consistent stints throughout the race, fighting their way into the top ten by the second hour. Continued progress saw them move up to seventh overall and sixth-in-class by half distance and in the closing stages, a clever strategy from the team meant they didn't have to pit in the last half hour while the fifth place car did. Unfortunately, a late Safety Car period, one of three in an eventful race, allowed the #15 Creation AIM to take its stop without losing much time and denied Primat and Tinseau a top five finish.
Nevertheless Harold was satisfied with his strong run to sixth which was a fitting finale to what has been his best-ever season in sportscar racing.
Harold said: "We have to be very happy to have come back so strongly after a frustrating qualifying. It is always difficult when you start the race outside the top ten, mainly because of the traffic. There was very little grip early on in my first stint, but both Christophe and I pushed very hard to climb the field during the race. It is a shame the late Safety Car period cost us a chance of fifth place but this has still been a good drive.
"I would like to thank everybody at the team for what has been an excellent season. The guys at Pescarolo Sport and my team-mate Christophe Tinseau have been fantastic this year and together we've proved to be a very strong package. I'd also like to thank our partners for their continued support in 2008."
Tinseau said: "My first stint was very good but in the second stint the new tyres weren't working as well. We had some understeer throughout the race and I think that might be because we didn't have the chance to refine our set-up due to the lack of a warm-up session. We've got a decent result though and, while it's a shame not to have finished as top petrol car in the championship, this has still been a good season."
Team Principal Henri Pescarolo said: "It's a good way to end the season, with the #16 car on the podium and the #17 car not far away. Harold drove very well despite suffering with the tyres in his first stint so I am very happy."